Hundreds of mourners gather for a vigil to honor Zara Aleena

Hundreds of mourners gathered in the east London for a silent vigil in honor of the murdered graduate of the Faculty of Law, Zara Aleena.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Work deputy Wes Streeting joined family, friends, campaigners and well-wishers at St. Valentine’s Park, Ilfordto remember the 35-year-old who was gunned down just minutes from her driveway on nearby Cranbrook Road on June 26 last year.

The crowds were dressed in white and carried pictures of Ms Elena reading “I Am Zara”, with many wearing T-shirts bearing her image.

Members of Ms. Elena’s family led the crowd along the route she took that night, inviting Mr. Khan to walk alongside them in front.

Speaking to the PA news agency, Ms Alena’s aunt Fara Naz said the family remembered Zara as “so sweet” and for her belief in social justice.

Ms Naz said: “She was so lovely, her voice was so lovely and at the same time she was a stickler for justice.

“She was an aspiring lawyer, she finished her qualification, so we would also like to remember her as a fighter for justice and stand with her, stand in solidarity with her in their hearts today and work towards the vision of ending violence against women and girls.”

Mr Khan, who attended with his wife and daughter, said there was an “epidemic of violence” that men were responsible for.

In his speech, Mr Khan said: “Zara is not the first woman to be brutally murdered on our streets, nor will she be the last woman to be murdered on our streets.

“There is an epidemic of violence against women and girls in our country and my gender is responsible for violence against women and girls, so the mission today is to remember Zara, the mission is to comfort Zara’s family” .

He added: “Today is also a day for us to really, really, really redouble our efforts to end violence against women and girls.”

Andrea Simon, director of the Coalition to End Violence Against Women, told PA: “There are so many systemic changes that need to be made, but what we can never do is hold women accountable for those changes.

“It starts with men taking responsibility and the agencies that exist to protect the entire public stepping up and making sure they don’t make the same mistakes.”

Ms Simon added: “In communities we are coming together to say we don’t want any more women to take their lives from male violence.”

Before her death, Ms Elena began working at the Crown Prosecution Service on a two-year traineeship to qualify as a barrister after completing a legal practice course, her family said.

She was sexually assaulted and killed by recently released felon Jordan McSweeney, 29, as she returned from a night out.

He received a life sentence with a minimum term of 38 years.

Mr Streeting, Labor MP for Ilford North, gave a speech at the end of the vigil in which he highlighted the political action needed to reduce violence among men and thanked police officers involved in Ms Aleena’s case.

He said: “Often criminals don’t even see the inside of a courtroom, let alone the inside of a prison cell.

“The police know that they also need to change a lot. Not just more police on our streets, but better police.”

He then told the PA news agency: “If the criminal justice system was doing its job properly, he (McSweeney) wouldn’t be walking the streets, and so I think we have to think very seriously about whether the law is right. but also that the resourcing of the system, particularly the probationary period, is in the right place.

“I hope that after this terrible disaster for Zara’s family, we can make sure that changes are made so that other families don’t have to go through this unimaginable loss.”